"Take Away!" - 2

 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:3 KJV)

  "And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later." (Romans 8:17-18 NLT)

 Just to make clear what Jesus is saying, "If," does not put forth conjecture or doubt, but is a conclusion to the statement of what was stated previously, as if to say, "And since," or, "If so," or, "When!" There is no doubt, but within us; Jesus has no doubt about what should happen, but for our benefit, He puts this out there as a questionable idea, that is really going to happen! 

 Even "may" is that affirmative of a word; as it was used in the since of giving tithes or offerings, so that we do not make our giving known, such as blowing a horn, as He said, "That thine alms "may" be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:4 KJV) As we see, this is the fact that is true, however, it is something that we must assume is true, because Jesus said so! 

 No matter how hard you might try to make yourself believe, you will not be able to believe fully, without the Holy Spirit giving you confirmation within your heart, that it is true and without a doubt. The disciples heard these things said, they understood some of what was said, but until they were filled with the Holy Spirit, much of what was said did not really seem real or confirmed. 

 Yes, we have those days of doubt; mostly brought on by being overwhelmed or out of fellowship. But, to be totally honest, doubts are things that actually can make us stronger, if we take every effort to tear down the walls that cause the doubt! Prayer, reading Scripture, and abiding in Christ; these are the basic things that are needed every single day! 

 Not that I have anything that is not wrong in my walk, because we all have our own quirks about us. But despite the faults and weakness that we might have, Christ is our strength, in our weakness...

"If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won't do it, because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from being proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from being proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:6-10 NLT)